Come Little Leaves... . And The Leaf Of The Day

Tilden Park, Berkeley, California

November 11th, 2018

Minolta

"Come little leaves," said the Wind one day, "come to the meadows with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold; for summer is past, and the days grow old."

~George Cooper

I photographed this little leaf on November 11th, 2008. I think it might have been what sparked my interest in starting this yearly project. I love doing it very much, and it has become as important to me as Halloween and Thanksgiving are! After autumn closes the door for another year, I will still be searching for leaves as far into the other seasons as they go. So, as you might have guessed, I have a hard time letting go of things I care about, even leaves. LOL.

It's only 29 days until the midterm elections. Less than a month. It seems like things could be a slam dunk, but I can't let myself go there. I knew there was every potential for Donald Trump to win the 2016 election, but I put it away, out of my head, because who could take him seriously? He had no experience in politics, so who in their right mind, would vote for him to become the most powerful person in the world? 

Well, as it turns out, I guess there are enough people in America willing to have brain surgery done on them, by whoever gives the best pitch, rather than which doctor has the most experience. So, if you happen to be a janitor, but you think you'd be just nifty at brain surgery, rest assured there will be someone who will let you do it, because you're different than any other surgeon they had ever met before! 

My stomach is in knots. It's not like we will see any peace if democrats manage to take back either the house or the senate, or both. We will have to continue to endure Trump's abuse, and daily barrage of nasty attacks. We will continue to be trolled by he cowardly little anonymous cultists, and it might get even worse than it had ever before. He's scared of the Mueller investigation, and he should be! Mueller is more than capable, and that's already been proven by multiple indictments, and those who agreed to testify on condition of being immunity from prosecution.

But if we lose, we will still be beaten, and stepped on, because winning has never been enough for him. He can't just be gracious, he has to be smug, and nasty, and cruel, like it's his lifeblood, like it's what keeps him alive. It's not enough to just breathe air like the rest of us do, he has to beat, demean and abuse people if he wins too. The pain he inflicts won't stop either way the midterms go. 

Sometimes I think I will never know another day of peace again.

Ever.

And I'm just sad, all the time now, except when I am photographing the beauty of autumn leaves, because I know they have nothing to do with him.

Nothing. 

Don't get me wrong the depression fluxes in severity, but it never really stops. So, is this how the rest of my life will be? Not one day without psychological abuse? Am I really going into my old age, with this reality? Will I ever go a day again, without hearing the name Trump? Or feeling the pain of the decisions he has already made, like the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court? 

The leaf at the top of this post, was photographed exactly one week after the 2008 Presidential election. I was so much happier then. Even if John McCain had won, I wouldn't have been the happiest person in the world, but I wouldn't have been depressed to the point that I am right now. Sarah Palin, as vice president, would have been annoying, occasionally funny, really absurd, but she wouldn't make me worry about being hit with a nuclear missile. 

Well, probably not, anyway.

#19 Leaf Of The Day

October 10th 2018

Stockton, California

~Mood: Sad
~Me   :)

 

Happy New Year 2009!

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on the pages ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day!"

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

It's finally here... 2009! I am ready for the New Year, and all the wonderful opportunities waiting for me. People, places, things, it's all fresh and new, and I am ready to take it on! How about you? Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to in the coming year? Tell me what you think. Will 2009 be better then 2008? Do you have big plans in terms of how you will face the coming year? If you feel like sharing, please do so. I would love to know what you think. Look into your crystal ball, and tell what the New Year will be like. Good, Bad, or Otherwise.

From Our House To Yours... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love, Carly, Alan, Hendrix & Dylan

Happy New Year 2009
San Francisco, California
December, 2008
Early Evening

We Share Butterflies

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

-Tenneva Jordon

This year has certainly had it's moments. At times it has seemed jammed packed with bad news, if not for America in general, then for us, on occasions. I knew 2008 was going to be a bumpy ride, when the pipe in the wall behind the toilet decided to become hopelessly clogged on January 1st! LOL Whew... what a way to start a new year! LOL. But then February brought the untimely death of Alan's wonderful brother, and March began with the death of our friend, and landlord P. Elvis was diagnosed with Cancer in April, and that hit us just as hard, if not harder, then all the previous bad news. Alan and I had a lot to deal with over the summer, but we came through just fine, on the prayers of friends and family. October came along, and it was mixed with sorrow and joy, as we lost our Elvis, but gained Hendrix and Dylan. Our new fur babies, that make us smile every single day.

Life is a roller coaster, I keep forgetting that. With the sweet comes the bitter. Yesterday, I got a call from the pastor of my parents-in-law's church. It seems my MIL suffered a heart attack a couple days ago! She is in the hospital right now. The doctor performed a, Cardiac Catheterization, and found that some minimal damage was done, but he isn't doing anything for it. Apparently whatever damage that happened will either fix itself, or doesn't need any additional repair. Either way, I am thankful she is resting comfortably. My MIL means a lot to me. She has always treated me like a daughter, rather then some strange creature that lured her son into the depths of HELL! LOL. Over the 19 years we have been related, we haven't had one single argument. Have we disagreed? You bet! Was it ever so bad that we couldn't agree to disagree... NEVER!

We have shared many things over the years. We sent books back and forth, and compared and shared recipes. Which, let me tell you is completely intimidating, because she is a chef and nutritionist! Yikes! And yet, I managed to impress her with a couple recipes of my own. At least she said she was impressed. LOL. We sent photos back and forth, and she was so enamoured with Elvis, that she actually began her very own, Grandma's Baby Book, to share with all her friends the photos of "her cat" Elvis. She is a lovely, strong, impressive woman, and I felt cheated when she and Dad moved away from the Bay Area just a year after Alan and I wed. I worry about them both, so far away, but fortunately they have a lot of folks around to take care of them and look out for their needs. I just wish I lived closer.

It sounds like she will be coming home from the hospital early next week, and I know someone will have them over for the holiday, but I wish Alan could spend Thanksgiving with them. You never know what can happen, and in that he has always had a happy and healthy relationship with them, it just seems like he should be there. We took a hard hit, financially, after Elvis's illness. We wouldn't change a thing, we have no regrets about giving him chemo, but the cost of everything has made traveling way to expensive to just pick up the phone and book a flight. Hopefully, the economy will get better in time. We'll see. For now, while going back east is out of the question, we are close in our hearts. Please keep my MIL in your thoughts and wishes. I just know if you could meet her, you would love her as much as I do. One of the things we share most often, was our mutual love of butterflies. Every time I see a lovely butterfly I think of her, so the picture above is just for her. :)

-Carly
"Beautiful Butterfly"
Conservatory of Flowers
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Spring, 2008
Afternoon

Goodbye John Edwards

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

-Plato

This saddens me. John Edwards, will make it official today, in New Orleans, that he is dropping his bid for the Democratic nomination. While I have to admit that in recent days he had lost me, I still believed in him. He is a good man, he would have been good for America. So why did I turn to another candidate in the last week? Well, thank you for asking.

It came down to hearing, and seeing, in another candidate the right answers to my questions. Not just the questions I write about here sometimes, but those quiet questions we all carry around. It's about all the work we are in for, when the new president takes office. It's about practicality verses high hopes, and ultimately, it's about experience. Hillary Clinton has been dealt more then one blow in her life, and not only did she survive, she prospered. In the public eye, she has been called everything in the book, and yet she moves on with humor and strength.

One of the things that initially excited me about John Edwards, was how he and his wife handled Elizabeth Edward's cancer. They had an up close and personal view of the strain of catastrophic illness. I believed that he had a real and strong desire to not just be president, but to NOT LET US DOWN. He spoke in practical terms. He spoke to the middle class. He spoke about a better life in America, not the dream of a better life. He made me feel like America could once again be that great country we all like to think it is, but in reality is far from it.

We don't lead the world in economics. We don't lead the world in education. We don't lead the world in democracy, as long as our own government is spying on us. We don't lead the world in health care. We don't lead the world in...

The list is a long one. We need someone who can help bring us back to what we once were. I think Edwards could have been that man, which is why he was on my sidebar for months. Then, one day, I began to hear more of the right answers coming from Hillary Clinton. I believe she is the right person for the White House. And in a perfect world, John Edwards would be her running mate. That would be a ticket I could believe in. Can you see it?



Goodbye John Edwards, for now. Hope to see you soon!

-OndineMonet

Hair... Like A Virgin... Combed For The Very First Time

"Long hair minimizes the need for barbers; socks can be done without; one leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years; suspenders are superfluous."

-Albert Einstein

Ok, what the heck is going on? For the last month or so, I have been seeing BIG 80's hair everywhere I have been. Not on everybody of course, but here and there for sure. Enough so I have noticed. It's so weird. It's like I died, and suddenly I am existing in an alternate New Wave higher, or maybe lower, existence. LOL. Or could it be... fret... that I am finally old enough, that the New Wave style has finally come back into vogue? In either case, this 40-something lady will have no part of it. Nope. I did the Madonna hair, the Stevie Nicks hair. In the 90's I had "The Rachel" look, but now, in 2008, I have "The Carly"... and it just feels nice to have my own style. :)

So tell me, what of this phenomenon? Have you been seeing big hair everywhere also? Is it coming back into style? Inquiring minds want to know!

-OndineMonet

Going Dark

"Weather forecast for tonight: Dark"

-George Carlin

Well, as promised, the storm arrived! And it was on time, and get this, it is just as bad as they said it would be! If not worse. The Richmond/San Rafael Bridge is closed, there is a large amount of standing water at the toll plaza on the Bay Bridge, and all eastbound lanes of the San Mateo/Hayward Bridge are closed. There are power lines down throughout San Francisco, and debris flying across HWY 101 in San Rafael. Thunderstorms are being experienced and they will continue throughout the afternoon. Winds are upwards of 80mph in some places.

I guess you could call this the Storm of the Century for the Bay Area anyway. I was thinking about going out and doing some photos, but the news is saying to stay put, so, I think I will. My satellite is going in and out. That can't be good.I might put on my rainy day wear and walk up the hill, of course I might need a raft to get back... so wish me luck!

Click here for coverage from my local ABC affiliate KGO 7

Note: I have some thoughts about the Iowa Caucuses, and the latest Britney Spears meltdown, but I will have to get back to you. :)

-OndineMonet
Live Doppler Radar

Things I Think About As I Batten Down The Hatches

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."

-Louisa May Alcott

There is a huge series of winter storms headed for the Bay Area, and Northern California. The predictions for the next couple days are downright hair raising. Rain, Flooding, Hail, Thunderstorms, High Waves, as much as 30 feet high, Blizzard conditions in the lower Sierra, High Winds, which could reach 80 mph in the East Bay hills, Power Outages... Oh My! My local ABC affiliate is asking for amateur photographers to submit weather photos, so I might venture out if the roads are at least a little passable.

I love Thunderstorms. I used to occasionally swim during them if the temperature was even just a little warm. It was erotic, and yeah I know it was a little dangerous, but it felt great on the skin. But now, those days are over. I was thinking about those days, while I was checking on the yard to see if everything was covered properly. Actually, I had a lot of stuff going through my mind.

Things I Think About While I Batten Down The Hatches...

1. Today is the Iowa Caucuses. While it is a pretty good indicator of things to come, it doesn't mean everything. After all, in 1980 George H.W. Bush won 32% to Ronald Reagan's 30%, and we all know how that turned out.

2. I think Jose Canseco should win the coveted " Used-Up Brat of the Year" award for his mudslinging ways. I didn't like him when he was playing with the Oakland A's and I don't care much for him now. America has taken such a beating in the last 7 years, and it saddens me that even my favorite sport has been brought to it's knees by greedy, selfish individuals, so do we really need Canseco's two cents?

3. The worst hairstyle ever, the Mullet, was all about "business in the front, party in the back." LOL. Just shoot me if I ever end up with a Mullet. Please.

4. I took the above picture exactly one year ago today. It looks pretty much the same outside.

5. The San Francisco Zoo reopened today, after having begun renovations to bring it's big cat exhibit up to industry standards. They had to bring it up to standards? It's a spooky thought that I had been right there, in front of those big cats on a number of occasions, and apparently they could have very easily have mauled me at any time. Sigh. All I can think of is... why?

6. "And if I can't find my way back home, it just wouldn't be fair." Name that song! Tee Hee. Sometimes I just sing to myself.

7. I need to pick up some batteries, and cat pan liners, and milk, and...

8. Did you watch David Letterman last night?

9. God, I am so in love with Stephen Colbert!

10. I think I am finally old enough to do really well on any one of the current television game shows! Except maybe Dog Eat Dog.

11. I just heard the rain start outside.

12. I found a great pair of tights at Target last night. They are black with little white dots on them. They will look great with my black dress.

13. I love clearance sales. Wal-Mart had some great little boots on sale on their website the other day. I got two pair for $30.

14. My hands hurt.

15. That burger I ate for lunch yesterday rocked! I wonder if Alan would like Shepard's Pie for dinner tonight?

16. "Macho, Macho Man... I've got to be a Macho Man." I told you sometimes I burst into song. :)

17. I miss Mr. Whipple.

18. I haven't watched General Hospital in two weeks! Alan was home with the flu and I just couldn't put him through it. LOL. I wonder if anything has changed in Port Charles since I last watched it?

19. I should probably take a ride on BART soon. It would be a good subject for my entry for the next Round Robin Challenge: Railroads. Join us if you can.

20. A nice mug of sugar-free hot chocolate would hit the spot right now!

21. Gosh I miss Mr. November sometimes, and sometimes I really don't.

22. I wish the Ethereal Musician would play me a tune.

23. Last night, in a fit of laughter, Alan and I created the character of "Babbles The Wounded Goat." Don't ask. LOL


And that's just a sampling of what runs through a girls mind, when there is a series of storms approaching. :) There is a good chance I will lose power sometime in the next couple days, so, if I go missing don't worry, I will be back online when the clouds clear, if not sooner then that! And probably with photos. :)

-OndineMonet
"The Storm From Last Year"
Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
Oakland, California
January 3rd, 2007
Afternoon

...While You're Busy Making Other Plans

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds, and diamonds are made under pressure."

-Peter Marshall

Well, the picture you see above wasn't supposed to be the first picture I took in 2008. No. Not at all. So why have I taken a photo of my lunch you ask? Well, see it all started last night after dinner, while I was doing the dishes. Alan and I had just finished our meal, and we were making plans to visit the Conservatory Of Flowers, in Golden Gate Park. They have a gorgeous exhibit going on now through March that is certain to pull anyone out of the winter doldrums. It is called Color: A Winter Carnival. It is supposed to be absolutely beautiful.

On display are all kinds of flowers and plants to lighten the heart. Beautiful. Fantastic. "And afterwards, lets have lunch and then grab an ice cream at Ben & Jerry's in the Haight," said Alan. "Okay, I can try one of the sugar-free flavors," I replied. It was all set. We would leave a little before 9:00 AM and we would drive up the coast by way of Half Moon Bay. Ahh... a long drive along the coast. But... well... my plans took a strange twist.

In fact, the twist is apparently in the pipes under my bathtub. LOL. Yep... we have a clog, and not just any clog, a holiday clog! See, while I was doing the dishes the pipes started making a festive little sound like, glopity gloop, gloop, gloop! And then it all backed up into the bathtub. Kind of like your tummy does when it hasn't made go for a while. Yuck!

So, we set off on a journey to Target, and Walmart, and Home Depot, to try and find some kind of unsticky, ungoopy, ungloggy plumbing stuff to remove whatever had decided to constipate our pipes. We found some that said, "DO NOT USE IN STANDING WATER," some that said, "DO NOT FLUSH FOR 48 HOURS," and one that actually said, "DO NOT STORE IN FOOD CONTAINERS," Well DUH! LOL. So we went with the one that simply instructed, "DO NOT USE TO PUT OUT FIRES," Oh, and by the way, it contains no peanuts or trans fatty acids! Hey, we were good to go!

A little while later, when we got home, we followed the label directions carefully, and nothing happened. So, two hours later, we followed the label directions again... still no go. With the night becoming more and more non-eventful, we decided to call it a day. We were both really tired and a little punchy at this point, so we both began to laugh at the same time about how we had begun 2008 slightly constipated! Tee Hee. Was this all a sign of things to come? I was kind of blaming myself at that point, because I had just read the night before about an old urban legend that says if you want to have a good year, you will wear pink underwear on New Year's Eve, and, of course, I ignored that warning and wore black! Yes, it was my fault.

I know what you are thinking. This is all very nice, but why is there a picture of my lunch? Ok... flash forward. It is now today, and I can't find the owner of the main house or his handyman. But I have left messages, and I am sure that someone will call us back soon, but in the meantime, I was starving. Alan decided to not make me cook, since doing dishes would be especially not possible, so off to In-N-Out Burger we went. Yum. I haven't had a big goopy burger in months. And French fries... yes... good. :) Today has been an adventure, it was definitely a plan "B" kind of day, but it has been fun. We take things like this well. Yeah. Humor and kindness is the best way to go. It's just the way life is... you know? Wasn't it John Lennon who said... "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." Sigh. **Grin** The conservatory will be there next week. :)

Can I take your order Miss? Tee Hee, he called me "Miss."

Be right Back...

Yum! Two Cheeseburgers with no lettuce, 1 order of fries and 1 Diet Coke.

-OndineMonet
"In-N-Out Burger"
San Ramon, California
January 2nd 2008
Afternoon

January 1st 2008

With the rose, the butterfly's deeply in love
A thousand times hovering round;
But round himself, all tender like gold,
The sun's sweet ray is hovering found.

-Heinrich Heine, "New Spring"

It's beautiful today in the Bay Area, and I thought I might go out with the camera to take my first photos of 2008, but it just felt too nice to laze in bed today. It's comfy warm under the covers. :) I am happy right now, much happier then I was a year ago. I guess that's why I have spent so much time today, daydreaming about what the next few months might be like.

I have some big plans. Really big plans. The first of those big plans is to get back into my walking and stretching that I have been ignoring lately. It's so easy to slack off in the winter time, especially when my Fibromyalgia gives me an excuse. But I have a certain goal I am working toward, so I want to be in shape for when the time is exactly right for hiking up Mt. San Bruno, in my quest for the Mission Blue Butterfly.

That's it in the above photo. Isn't she amazing? I have been wanting to photograph her for a long time, and I have done some extensive research into where and when to start looking for her. She is still on the endangered species list, but in recent years they have been coming back strong.

Apparently the only place in the world you can find her is right here in the Bay Area, mostly along the San Mateo coastline, atop Mt. San Bruno, and sometimes she can be seen on Twin Peaks in San Francisco. I have a small window of opportunity between late March and early July, and then she will be gone for another season. She is a tiny little butterfly, but that color, she just amazes me. Hopefully while I am up there I might also find the San Bruno Elfin butterfly as well. :)

San Bruno Elfin

I am starting out the year with a few other small goals. I need to do more with my YOGA, so I will probably be signing up for a class in a couple weeks, and I want to take another online class through the Disney Family Learning Center, and probably the biggest of the small goals, I want to take a pottery class that's being offered nearby. That's a big one for me, because I haven't done much in the way of craft projects in the last few years. But it seems like it would be fun, so why not try something new?

I have plans for my garden this year, but I can't really do much with that right now, it's all kind of a matter of hurry up and wait at this point, but I am doing some research into vegetables and flowers, so I kinda have some idea of who, what, where and when. I am probably going to focus on the roses and the small vegetables like Grape tomatoes and maybe some peppers. It will be fun. I might plant some flowers to draw in the butterflies, I got a late start last year, so not much happened, although I had a ton of skippers. It must have been a good year for them! :)

Red Admiral

Common Gray Hairstreak

So, wish me luck. I found and photographed the Grey Hairstreak and the Red Admiral butterflies this past autumn, both new butterflies to me, so now I just need to find that Mission Blue. :) I know she's there, just waiting for this crazy lady with the camera to find her. :)

Blue-Butterfly Day
By Robert Frost

It is blue-butterfly day here in spring
And when these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry
There is more unmixed color on the wing
Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry.

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.

-OndineMonet

The Last Sunset Of 2007

"We will open the book: It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

This was the view this evening, from up here on Grizzly Peak Boulevard. The lights in San Francisco hadn't even come on yet, so I thought it would be the best picture I could show you of the last sunset over San Francisco for 2007. It's time to tell the year goodnight... and thank you! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Note: Please click on the photo to see it in a larger version. :)

-OndineMonet
"The Last Sunset of 2007"
Grizzly Peak Boulevard
Berkeley, California
December 31st, 2007
5:05 PM

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment # 196: Plans For 2008

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

First the important news: This is the last Weekend Assignment I'll be doing here at By The Way. Next week is the last full week of me doing By The Way, and also we'll be in the thick of the holiday madness, so I think it's best to wrap up this very long-running feature here and now. It's been lots of fun, though, and I hope you've all enjoyed playing along as much as I have.

But I don't want to spend too much time with the past here, because the future is so much more interesting to me at the moment. With that in mind, here is the topic for this week's Weekend Assignment;

Weekend Assignment #196: What are your hopes or plans for 2008? Any big projects for the year? Anything you hope to accomplish or change? Or will you just relax? Because, you know, that's okay, too.

Extra Credit: How was your 2007?

-John Scalzi (By The Way)

Well, I will get to John's question in a moment, but first I want to once again tell John how much I will miss him and the Weekend Assignments, in 2008! Somehow, I wish there were just a few more weeks in 2007, so we could make it to an even 200 Weekend Assignments. LOL. Can you believe I just said that? The lady who began praying for New Year's Eve, just a couple weeks into 2007? LOL. Oh goodness, this was a bumpy year for me personally. I don't want to look back right now, because that is not the focus of this assignment. The point of this assignment is to look into the future. And when I do that, I get excited at the possibilities. :) So when I look into my future, through my crystal ball, here is what I see...

**I am going to take some additional classes on meditation and yoga, in an effort to improve my overall well-being. I need to cut some stress, as that is my number one trigger to my diabetes. Stress is even more dangerous to me then sugar. Don't get me wrong. My numbers are fantastic, my doctor is thrilled with what I have accomplished since July, and on this course, I will be officially diabetes free as of July, but I need more than one good A1C test before I get the full ALL CLEAR.

**I am planning to take a ceramics class. I want to learn something new, and hopefully make some new pals. It's time to climb out of my shell a little. I like people, and I like life, and hopefully they wont hate me on sight. Right? I remember our Blogfather once said, Internet friendships are wonderful, but nothing beats the relationships we have in real life.I am paraphrasing of course, but you get the idea. It sounded like sound advice to me. I have spent too much time in my own little world. I am so done with the past! I am over it!

**I want to volunteer for a political campaign. I have always wanted to do that, and I think it would be a great experience. It's something new, that I have never tried, and I can kind of choose how much time I want to devote to it. This is an important election coming up. Something has to not just change, it has to change for the better! If I am going to put myself out in the world, I want to help make a positive change, even if all I do is stuff envelopes. You know? It's time to do my part for the future.

**In terms of creativity, there is nothing more important to me then my photography. I need to really work on it, not just stick with the same old comfortable subjects, but rather really push myself to go to the edge with it. There are some photography classes available at the community colleges in my area, so why not expand my horizons a bit? :) I took a class online, in Portrait Photography, earlier this year, and I found it very enjoyable. :)

**Overall, I want to just experience life. That's all. My priorities have changed, since I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I am so lucky that I wasn't told it was cancer, or heart disease or any one of the other things that tend to punch us down for no apparent reason. Since I began blogging in 2003, I have lost 2 good blogging/journaling buddies, Frank and Pam, to those things. I still miss them terribly, and they remind me of how short life is. It's too short to be afraid of the future. So, here I am, thrilled about 2008, and all it has waiting for me, good or bad! Maybe I will do all the things I have listed, maybe I will do none of them, maybe I will do other things that I can't even conceive of. Who knows? Isn't it exciting? Stay tuned, because you just never know with me!

Extra Credit: How was your 2008? ROFLMAO! Well, at first I thought it sucked! Then things kind of tapered off, and now, well, I can look back and see, life has a way of working itself out. All in all... it wasn't the worst year I have ever had. :)

"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest, that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."

-Jan Glidewell

-OndineMonet
"Believe"
Merry-Go-Round
Christmas Fantasy In The Woods
Tilden Park
Berkeley, California
November 29, 2007
Evening